Revisiting the Upper Vaal – Part 2

Paddling the same stretch of a river is never exactly the same. Rain, lack of rain, dam releases, rain in a tributary: they guarantee that each session will be different. The higher up a river the section is, the more volatile the change.

There is something about the dynamics of water that appeals to my inner soul. It makes me want to return again and again.

So a week after the previous trip where we had some flow but still some intermittent rock humping I returned to the upper Vaal River at Klipbank again. This time with local farmers Ben deWet and Nico von Wielligh who have paddled the section a number of times before in their sit-on-top kayaks. As a bonus, my 70 year old dad also joined for the ride.

We have had more rain in the past week, and all indications were that we will have a strong flowing Vaal to contend with. The Vaal did not disappoint!

We had the river at the start of a good white water level, Class I and II rapids, including a sweet 1.5m drop into a very deep pool. At super high levels this drop will probasbly become a huge boat sucking hole that will spit you out on the far side of the pool after significant down-time!